The doubling of government investment in pre-university education in the Dominican Republic is getting the country good press abroad. Germany’s international broadcaster, Deutsche-Welle reports on the major investments being made to improve education. <\/p>\n
“The Dominican Republic is the first country in the Caribbean to undertake a major education overhaul. In 2012, voters convinced all presidential candidates to promise – if elected – to double the education budget. Now President Danilo Medina is staking his reputation on education reform. The country will spend 4% of its GDP – almost two billion euros in 2014. Deputy Education Minister Luis Matos de la Rosa says the reform targets five problem areas.<\/p>\n
“We can’t say which part is the most important,” de la Rosa told DW. “Everything is happening at the same time.”<\/p>\n
“Obviously first we need new spaces. We’re also hiring people to fill these spaces, expanding preschool enrollment, teaching people to read and extending the school day,” De la Rosa told DW.<\/p>\n
DW points out the difficulties ahead, mentioning that so far all efforts aren’t being funded equally. “Construction gets four times more money than teacher training and hiring,” it points out.<\/p>\n
DW writes that the Dominican government will build 28,000 new classrooms by 2016, but right now there aren’t enough teachers for the classrooms they already have. Student-teacher ratios in schools with more than 500 students are 78:1 – this accounts for 68% of total enrollment for public schools.<\/p>\n
The government is extending the school day to eight hours from five, aiming to have 80% of schools operating on an eight-hour day by 2016.<\/p>\n
www.dw.de\/dominican-republic-revamps-failing-education-system\/a-17625149<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The doubling of government investment in pre-university education in the Dominican Republic is getting the country good press abroad. Germany’s international broadcaster, Deutsche-Welle reports on the major investments being made to improve education. “The Dominican Republic is the first country in the Caribbean to undertake a major education overhaul. In 2012, voters convinced all presidential … <\/p>\n